Maravich heads collection of each SEC school's best

Sunday

In the first two installments of the SEC Summer Countdown series, I projected who the top returning players and newcomers will be in the league in the season ahead.

Last week, I looked at how the conference coaches stack up against each other today.

This week, I decided to go back into the history books to choose who I believe is the best player from each of the SEC's 14 schools after considering what they accomplished, both individually and collectively, during their time in college. Here's my list, alphabetically by school:

Alabama: Reggie King. Players such as Robert Horry, Latrell Sprewell and Antonio McDyess had longer and more memorable professional careers  "Big Shot Bob," for instance, played on seven NBA-championship-winning teams  but they couldn't come close to matching King's college accomplishments. Nicknamed "Mule," King, a 6-foot-6, 225-pound forward, scored a school-record 2,168 points and ranked second in career rebounds with 1,279. He won SEC Player of the Year honors in 1978 and 1979 before going to the Kansas City Kings with the 18th pick in the 1979 draft.

Arkansas: Corliss Williamson. There's a great case to be made for Sidney Moncrief, the best of the famed Triplets who helped resurrect Razorbacks basketball in the 1970s and who ended his time in Fayetteville, Ark., as the school's all-time leading scorer  Todd Day since passed him  but I give a slight edge to Williamson. The player nicknamed "Big Nasty" was a two-time second-team All-American and SEC Player of the Year who led Arkansas to its only NCAA title in 1994 and had the Razorbacks playing for another in 1995. He turned pro after three seasons but still scored 1,728 points, eighth-most in school history.

Auburn: Charles Barkley. The 6-6, 250-pound Barkley first earned the nickname "The Round Mound of Rebound" during his tenure with the Tigers, when he led the Southeastern Conference in rebounding three straight seasons. He also averaged 14.1 points during his three-year stay at Auburn, which he led to its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 1984. Chuck Person joined him on that team, played in two more NCAA Tournaments and ultimately scored more points than Barkley, but Sir Charles got it started and was named SEC Player of the Year in 1984.

Florida: Neal Walk. Strong consideration must be paid to Al Horford, who I believe was the best player on Florida's back-to-back national-championship-winning teams in 2006 and 2007, and Joakim Noah, the team's emotional leader. But the greatness of those Gators was the absence of a player who stood out from the rest. So instead I'm choosing the 6-10 Walk, a two-time All-American who led Florida to its first-ever postseason appearance in the 1969 NIT and remains the only Gator to have his number (41) retired. He finished college as Florida's all-time leading scorer and still holds school records for career rebounds (1,181) and scoring average (20.9 ppg). He also was drafted second overall in 1969, just behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Georgia: Dominique Wilkins. "The Human Highlight Reel" did more than thrill with his dunking skills during his time in Athens, Ga. He also averaged 21.6 points and 7.5 rebounds over three college seasons before turning pro in 1982. Despite leaving early and only playing 16 games because of injury as a freshman, he still totaled 1,688 points, fourth-most in Bulldogs history. This season, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope joined Wilkins as the only Georgia players in history to be voted SEC Player of the Year, and both of them won the award as sophomores.

Kentucky: Dan Issel. The most storied program in Southeastern Conference  if not college basketball  history saw 14 of its players win SEC Player of the Year honors, but Issel was not among them. That had more to do with the next name on this list than anything else. Issel, a two-time All-American who ranks as the school's all-time leading scorer and rebounder with 2,138 career points and 1,078 boards, certainly would have been worthy of the honor. He averaged 25.7 points for Adolph Rupp's team between 1967 and 1970 and led the Wildcats to three straight SEC titles.

LSU: Pete Maravich. Shaquille O'Neal, Bob Pettit and Chris Jackson were three of the greatest college players in not just LSU but SEC history, with O'Neal and Jackson combining to win four consecutive conference player-of-the-year awards. But just as Issel did during his playing career, they have to take a backseat to Maravich. "Pistol Pete," as he was known, remains the NCAA's all-time leading scorer, piling up 3,367 points  or an average of 44.2 per game  during his three college seasons, all before the introduction of the 3-point arc. He is the only man to sweep SEC Player of the Year honors in three seasons and was a three-time All-American. The only thing he didn't do was play in an NCAA Tournament.

Mississippi: John Stroud. Stroud is the Rebels' all-time scoring leader with 2,328 points and trails only Maravich and Tennessee standout Allan Houston in SEC history. He also ranks fourth among Ole Miss players in rebounds with 826 in a career that spanned 1977-80. He was twice named to The Associated Press All-SEC first team. Stroud stands out in a program that has been easy to overlook. Other players in the running for Ole Miss' best were Don Kessinger, better known for his work as a major league shortstop between 1964-1979, and Johnny Neumann, who averaged 40.1 points in his only season in Oxford, Miss.

Mississippi State: Bailey Howell. The 6-7 forward was a two-time All-American and three-time All-SEC selection between 1957 and 1959 and twice won SEC Player of the Year in a career that saw him average 27.1 points while leading the Bulldogs to 61-14 record. His 2,030 points are the second-most in school history behind Jeff Malone's 2,142 in one more season, and he still ranks first on Mississippi State's career rebounding list with 1,277, an average of 17.0 per game. Howell is the only player in school history to have his number retired.

Missouri: Derrick Chievous. Chievous' No. 3 is missing among the six retired jersey numbers hanging from the rafters at Mizzou Arena, but there's no doubt his name belongs with other MU greats such as Steve Stipanovich, Doug Smith and Willie Smith. The Band-Aid Man's 2,580 points are the most in school history and nearly 400 more than runner-up Doug Smith. He lacked the supporting cast of Stipanovich  a part of four consecutive Big Eight championship teams  but did lead the Tigers to the 1987 Big Eight crown. He earned All-American honors the same year and averaged 19.9 points over four seasons.

South Carolina: Alex English. English was a freshman, playing alongside other standouts such as Kevin Joyce, Brian Winters and Mike Dunleavy, on the last Gamecocks team to win an NCAA Tournament game in 1973. He went on to a more prolific career than all of them, scoring a then-school-record 1,972 points while starting every game  111 total  in four seasons under legendary Coach Frank McGuire. B.J. McKie is the only South Carolina player to eclipse that total since. English, who also averaged 9.6 rebounds in college, had his jersey retired after his senior season in 1976 and went on to a Hall of Fame career in the NBA.

Tennessee: Bernard King. King joins Maravich as the only men to win SEC Player of the Year honors in three seasons, though he split the awards with Kentucky's Kevin Grevey in 1975 and teammate Ernie Grunfeld in 1977. A three-time All-American, King led the SEC in scoring both those years and averaged 25.8 points and 13.2 rebounds in his three-year career. He ranks sixth all-time on the Volunteers' career scoring list (1,962 points) and is second in rebounds (1,004). His No. 53 jersey hangs with Grunfeld's No. 22 and Houston's No. 20 as Tennessee's only retired numbers.

Texas A&M: Acie Law IV. Law, the youngest player on this list, helped resurrect Texas A&M basketball under Coach Billy Gillispie and became the only Aggies player to win consensus All-American honors after leading the Aggies to a 27-7 record and a Sweet 16 appearance in 2007. The presence of Kevin Durant kept him from winning the Big 12 Player of the Year award that season, but he was still the first A&M player to be a unanimous choice for the All-Big 12 first team. The only A&M player to have his number retired, Law finished his career ranked fourth on the school's career scoring list (1,669 points) and third in assists (545).

Vanderbilt: Clyde Lee. Lee, a 6-10 center, won back-to-back SEC Player of the Year awards in 1965 and 1966. In the first of those seasons, he propelled the Commodores to a 24-4 finish and their first SEC title. The two-time All-American averaged 21.5 points in three seasons and still ranks seventh on Vanderbilt's career scoring list with 1,691, ahead of later greats such as Will Perdue, Billy McCaffrey and John Jenkins. He's also the school's all-time leading rebounder (1,223) and one of two players to have his number retired. The balconies on the south end of Memorial Gym are known as "The Balconies That Clyde Lee Built."

This article was published in the Sunday, July 28, 2013 edition of the Columbia Daily Tribune with the headline "Pistol of a list: Maravich heads collection of each SEC school's best."

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